and welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown in today for jake tapper. and we begin with the health lead. as the nation nears 5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus with more than 150,000 deaths. the world health organization warning today that there is no silver bullet to end this pandemic, and there may never be. one top official leading the coronavirus response for the organization is saying that everyone is feeling the fatigue of this pandemic, but, quote, we have a long way to go. that reality as the cdc projects there could be up to 27,000 more people killed before the end of this month. and as cnn's sarah sidener reports, the virus is now more widespread in the u.s. than ever before. >> it will be felt for decades

to come. >> reporter: the head of the world health organization predicting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic will last for decades. >> not only on the health aspect but on social, economic, and political. >> reporter: the coronavirus is still spreading out of control in parts of the united states, and death tolls are continuing to climb. >> we are very concerned, and this is a very serious point. deaths will continue to increase for the next few weeks. >> reporter: one reason why. the u.s. is in a new phase according to the white house's point person on covid response, dr. deborah birx. >> what we're seeing today is different from march and april. it is extraordinarily widespread. it's into the rural and urban areas. and to everyone who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus. >> reporter: the numbers back that up. july's total new cases more than double that of any other previous month. the hot spots mostly flaring up in the south and west.

mississippi now the highest percentage of positive covid-19 cases in the country with a staggering 21% positivity rate. south carolina follows with 18%. and now a hurricane threatens its shores. in florida, the storm's winds forced some testing sites to close for a bit creating a drop in confirmed cases. those sites now back open. >> we are encouraged by some of the trends we are seeing. we continue to see a downward trend in visits to the emergency department. >> reporter: still, florida is on the verge of hitting 500,000 confirmed coronavirus infections. california with nearly double florida's population has already surpassed that terrible milestone. despite that in a state order shutting down bars three weeks ago in los angeles, dozens attended a party thrown for first responders without masks or physical distancing. across america, schools are beginning to open up now. indiana and georgia already

seeing coronavirus infections, forcing some students to return to virtual learning next week. >> we're asking people to distance learn at this moment so we can get this epidemic under control. >> reporter: and we are learning just how deadly the coronavirus has become across the world. top epidemiologists at the w.h.o. saying that covid-19 kills about 0.6% of all patients. now, that might sound like a very small number, 0.6%, but if you take into account that that number means the coronavirus is six times more deadly than the seasonal flu. pam? >> that is frightening. thank you so much, sarah. i want to discuss all of this with cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. great to see you. so much to discuss here. and i want to start with what we heard from dr. deborah birx saying that the u.s. is in this new phase of the pandemic. you've been analyzing all of the reams of data coming in since february. what makes this phase new and

different in your view in a nutshell? >> well, when this started, this was primarily on the coasts, these infections in washington state, california, now, big airports, people coming in from overseas. and now it's started to spread. we seen it in the south obviously. where i am in georgia, florida, texas, arizona. but it's mainly been in very populated cities even within those states. now you're starting to see it spread more into the rural areas. and significantly. the graph tells the story. the question is are all these waves going to come down and stay down or are they going to keep having this sort of rollercoaster effect in different parts of the country at different times? >> right. and, you know, we heard from dr. birx about this idea that the u.s. has hit this reset on the pandemic five to six weeks ago. it's hard to imagine that when you look at graphs like that, dr. gupta, have you seen evidence that there has been this reset? if so, is another reset necessary? >> well, i heard that comment

and i wasn't quite sure what she meant. certainly five to six weeks ago there was a sustained sort of effort in the south in arizona and texas and florida to really start to try and bring these numbers down in those places. but if by reset you mean now we have a fire over here, we're going to go put that fire out and now there's another fire over here so we got to go put that out, that's kind of what's happening. that's not a strategy. that's just sort of putting pressure on bleeding spots without actually addressing the underlying problem. it's not really a reset as much as doing what has to be done. >> so let's talk about the big picture here. because the president's health experts are adamant wearing masks, social distancing, basic hygiene will control this pandemic, will help bring it under control. but there is no consistent message from the president about these mitigation steps, no message of unity, rallying the country to come together. the president seems focused on treatment and a vaccine. do you think he should be more

focused on both? >> yes, absolutely. a treatment and a vaccine is maybe a brighter spot story in all of this. and that's staffing. >> but that's months away a vaccine is. >> it's months away. but the other measures, pamela, you got to keep in mind that there's no country in the world that has a vaccine, and yet they've done much, much better many of them than we have with the strategies you just mentioned. i would go so far as to say as for the next three weeks if we avoided large gatherings, wore masks, avoided restaurants and bars, kept physical distance and washed hands, which sounds silly, so simple. and yet if we did that for three weeks as a nation, i guarantee, pamela, we'd be having a very different conversation 21 days from now. because the curves would all come down. >> so, we've seen this president say, look, it's up to the states, i'm not going to impose a federal mandate on mask wearing. but do you think this state by state approach is, in essence, enabling the virus rather than

containing it? >> yes. i think absolutely. and to add onto that, there is a right scientifically based answer here. handling it state by state, if they're all basing on science, then fine. but there is a right answer because we have real-world evidence that they have worked in other countries. so whether it's a state's issue or a federal issue, the point is that there's not a lot of subjectivity here. there is the right thing to do. there's a lot of states that aren't doing it. >> you look at the numbers, the u.s. has one of the worst outbreaks out of the 50 most populous countries in the world. so, you have to take a step back and say, okay, we're six months into this, what more can we do? now you have this issue of returning to school that's on every parent's mind, teacher's mind, your mind, my mind. in georgia's gwinnett county, more than 250 employees are not working after testing positive or being exposed. the school year has barely

begun. we're seeing outbreaks in indiana and other states. what's your takeaway here? >> i'm with you in terms of this is topic number one in our household. i have three girls, 11, 13, and 15. i think it's an exercise probably in futility. i mean, it's a very contagious virus. where i live the numbers have been going up. i think people are going to do their best efforts. but i think you're going to run into situations where you could have a super spreader event as we probably saw in gwinnett and at camp high harbor which you may be familiar with. 250 kids got infected there as well. it's going to be tough. i think there's going to be these stutter starts where maybe they start but then they have to go back to virtual learning pretty quickly. >> as a parent myself, i'm still not sure what i'm going to do next month when my son's supposed to go to school. it's just hard to know and it seems like the data in terms of kids transmitting the virus isn't really ironclad.

there is still a lot of open questions because some studies have come out saying that they hold more of the virus in their noses than adults. what are parents supposed to think right now? >> well, i think that the kids ten and older, the data is clearer. >> from the south korea study, right? >> exactly. and basically the bottom line was they were transmitting as much as adults. i will tell you this. we don't know about kids younger than that in large part because they really haven't been out of the house much. they don't have a lot of contacts to trace younger kids since mid-march. but typically little kids are the ones who actually spread these viruses. think about your little kids. they always have some sort of respiratory virus that they are more likely to spread. i don't know that this will be different. but we just don't have the data yet to say how much do they spread. we know they don't get as sick. but they could still spread it a lot. >> it's hard when the kids have been staying at home for the most part. it's a very different situation when you put them in together in school. we just don't have a clear

picture in terms of what would happen then. before we end, sanjay, i want to go to some of your reporting and analysis on people who may have built-in protection against coronavirus because of what's known as t-cells. explain. >> this is fascinating. and maybe some good news. basically they found in this study where they looked at people who they were trying to find antibodies in their blood after they recovered from coronavirus. they wanted to compare it to people who had never been exposed. so they found blood samples backdating to 2015. and even within those old blood samples, they found that they had t-cell reactivity. it's not antibodies per se, but it's another part of the immune system that was very reactive to the coronavirus, suggesting there was some recognition of this virus. what they propose is that there's other coronaviruses out there. and because of exposure to those common cold sort of coronaviruses, people might have some native immunity to this. it's very early science, but if it's true, that could provide

some additional immunity for the world. so we'll have to wait and see. >> absolutely. well, it's encouraging, nonetheless, and we'll take any encouraging news we can get. dr. sanjay gupta, thank you so much. and coming up, as the pandemic continues to spiral out of control in the u.s., president trump just attacked dr. fauci. and now he's targeting another member of his task force. plus, an anti-mask couple changing their mind as a nearby store owner says take them off, we're unmasking the debate, up next. veterans like liz and mik. an army family who is always at the ready. so when they got a little surprise... two!? ...they didn't panic. they got a bigger car for their soon-to-be-bigger family. after shopping around for insurance, they called usaa - who helped find the right coverage for them and even some much-needed savings. that was the easy part. usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it- easy.

looking to repair dry, the way ldamaged hairneed it- without weighing it down? try pantene daily moisture renewal conditioner. its color-safe formula uses smart conditioners to micro-target damage helping to repair hair without weighing it down. try pantene. no no no no no, there's no space there! maybe over here? hot! hot! oven mitts! oven mitts! everything's stuck in the drawers! i'm sorry! oh, jeez. hi. kelly clarkson. try wayfair! oh, ok. it's going to help you, with all of... this! yeah, here you go. thank you! oh, i like that one! [ laugh ] that's a lot of storage! perfect. you're welcome! i love it. how did you do all this? wayfair! speaking of dinner, what're we eating, guys? walk to end alzheimer's alzheis everywhere.tion all of us are raising funds for one goal: a world without alzheimer's and all other dementia. because this disease isn't waiting, neither are you. go to alz dot org slash walk.

little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you.

the coronavirus is wrecking stif the senate doesn't act, it will mean painful cuts to essential public services across america. fewer teachers and nurses, longer response times, dirtier streets.

but some say our states should just go bankrupt. text fund to 237-263 to tell congress to fund our essential public services. afscme is responsible for the content of this ad. turning to our politics lead now. president trump with sharp words for dr. deborah birx after she told cnn the pandemic is, quote, extraordinarily widespread in the u.s. well, now the president

is accusing her of, quote, taking the bait and called her pathetic. and as cnn's kaitlan collins reports, this comes after house speaker pelosi said she didn't have confidence in dr. birx's handling of the pandemic. >> reporter: president trump is lashing lashing out at one of his top health experts today. but it's time it's not dr. anthony fauci he's criticizing. it's dr. deborah birx after she made this warning on cnn. >> what we're seeing today is different from march and april. it is extraordinarily widespread. >> reporter: trump called that answer from dr. deborah birx pathetic and claimed that she took the bait and hit us because house speaker nancy pelosi said repeatedly that she had no confidence in birx. >> i don't have confidence in anyone who stands there while the president says swallow lysol and is going to cure your virus. it'll kill you and you won't have the virus anymore. >> reporter: pelosi had also criticized birx for not being forthcoming enough and enabling

trump's misinformation. criticisms that birx pushed back on. >> i have never been called polyanish or nonscientific or nondata driven. and i will stake my 40-year career on those fundamental principles. >> reporter: it came after his own staff spent the weekend accusing pelosi of attempting to undermine her, which they said was deeply irresponsible and, quote, just wrong. birx is far from the only health official the president is contradicting. yesterday his testing chief said it was time to move on from hydroxychloroquine because enough studies had shown it wasn't effective. >> the evidence just doesn't show that hydroxychloroquine side effective right now. i think we need to move on from that and talk about what is effective. >> reporter: but trump made clear today he's not ready to move on from the drug he's touted. >> hydroxy has tremendous support, but politically it's toxic because i supported it. >> reporter: the president is pushing hydroxychloroquine again as cnn has learned the testing

regimen has been amped up inside the west wing. staffers may now be randomly selected to undergo mandatory covid-19 testing. two weeks ago on july 19th, president trump made this promise. >> we're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan. >> reporter: despite that vow, it never happened and trump has unveiled no new plan. aides have worried the move could hurt his campaign given how voters have prioritized health care. and his re-election effort is out with two new ads in states that the president needs to win today after briefly pausing to rethink their strategy. the new ads hit former vice president joe biden but make no mention of covid-19. now, pam, biden is criticizing the president for going after his own health experts. he just tweeted, it's hard to believe that i has to be said, but he said if i'm elected president i will spend my monday mornings working with our

nation's top experts to control this virus, not insulting them on twitter. and we should note that talking about those new campaign ads from the trump campaign during the month in july according to a database that tracks this, pam, there was not a single trump campaign ad that even mentioned the pandemic that's going on. >> all right, very important to point that out. kaitlan, thank you so much for that. and meantime, let's go to capitol hill. that's where negotiators are back to work out this emergency aid package. now, both sides are projecting a positive tone. but sources tell cnn the two camps are as far apart as they have ever been. reminder, there is so much at stake here. last week the $600 a week federal unemployment benefit that many americans were using to pay bills and get by expired as did the temporary federal stop on evictions. cnn's phil mattingly is live from capitol hill. so, phil, the big question, was this meeting today any more productive than the meeting on saturday? is there any hope right now?

>> i think there's hope because it's capitol hill and things can often come together quickly. the stakes, they're enormous. and at this point in time after this nearly two-hour meeting, the sixth meeting in the last week between the top democratic negotiator and top white house negotiators, productive was about all they've got. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer said they are still a ways away from the biggest most important issues. they worked very hard and got in the weeds a little bit on education funding. but until they figure out, as you know, the federal unemployment benefit, states and local issues funding, there are just a myriad of issues right now where the two sides are very, very far apart, and obviously a very limited amount of time to try and reach a deal given the fact that real people with very real issues are hurting right now. >> americans are hurting watching this all play out. and then you have president trump and the question is what is his role in all of this? he was seen golfing over the weekend while his aides were on capitol hill working on the deal. what is he doing to bridge the

gap here? >> it's unclear. it's kind of fascinating and this has actually been the case from really every single one of the coronavirus response packages where the president has not had a very hands-on role. he hasn't spoken to speaker nancy pelosi in months i'm told. certainly hasn't been involved in negotiations with the speaker in a very long time, leaves that up to his top lieutenants. and they brief the president after each of these meetings and the president has taken on a harsher tone than the dealmaking tone. >> what chuck schumer wants more than anybody, and i'd say nancy pelosi would be second, they want to bail out cities and states that have done a bad job over a long period of time, nothing to do with coronavirus or china virus or whatever you want to call it. they want to bail out cities. they want bailout money. >> and, pamela, he's talking about funding for states and localities and that is a huge issue between democrats and republicans. democrats have asked for nearly a trillion dollars. republicans have said the money you got in the first package was

enough. the president weighing in with his opinion. the question now, does that opinion help bridge the divide? and it certainly doesn't. >> you're doing a great job there on capitol hill. thanks so much. and coming up, as nations around the world have flattened the curve, the author of the new report how the pandemic defeated america joins me with his findings up next. good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches! wait, what? said she's gonna need crutches. she fell pretty hard. you might want to clean that up, girl. excuse us. when owning a small business gets real,

progressive helps protect what you built . with customizable coverage. -and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. -donny, no. -oh.

turning to our health lead now, it is called how the pandemic defeated america. and it's an in-depth new report in "the atlantic." more than 100 experts were interviewed to find out why this coronavirus is hitting america so much harder than most other countries. so the article lays out how nearly everything that could have gone wrong did. hospitals were unprepared, underprepared. public health teams were underfunded. and systemic racism left people of color more vulnerable to the virus. inaction by president trump and the federal government, especially in those early days, noting, quote, america first was america oblivious. joining me now is a staff writer at "the atlantic" and the author of this piece. i read every page of your article and it is so insightful on so many different levels. just really peeling back the

layers of how we got to this point six months into this pandemic and having one of the worst outbreaks out of the 50 most populous countries in the world. and an epidemiologist at harvard medical school told you this. quote, the u.s. fundamentally failed in ways that were worse than i could have ever imagined. how did one of the wealthiest countries in the world get here, ed? >> it's a good question. it's one i've been trying to answer for months now. i think so many vulnerabilities contributed to america's poor performance here. obviously, a poor federal response was part of that. trump and his administration have ignored and dismissed experts for the entirety of their time in power. they have not listened to sound advice. they have promoted misinformation. and it should be no surprise that they failed to take count of any of the warnings early on

allowing the virus to spread through the country. but that virus then found prisons that were overstocked with people. nursing homes that were understaffed and underfunded. public health departments that have been underfunded for decades. hospitals that were stretched thin and ex-orbant amounts of money. the legacy of america's racism and colonialism that left people from indigenous and black and brown communities disproportionately affected by this virus. there are so many historical things that have come to roost right now. >> absolutely. and like you said, this pandemic has been both tragedy and teacher. and i think it's causing a lot of us to step back and say, okay, what is it about our history that we need to do a better job on moving forward? what can we learn from this? and one of the glaring issues

you laid out in your piece was looking at the hospitals. and one doctor told you that hospitals are prepared for trauma like mass shootings or hurricanes but not a pandemic. why is that? >> so, they are prepared for short-term disasters, not long-term recurring rolling ones, especially not ones that affect all 50 states at once, and thus producing a huge amount of pressure on the system and on the supply chains that provide equipment and drugs on which the hospitals depend. there's also the fact that america has this weird and unique system of health insurance that ties health care to employment. so in a situation like this when millions of people have lost their jobs, millions of people also have lost access to health care at a time when they need it the most. and finally, this country specifically has this attitude to health care where it focuses on treating people who are sick

at exorbitant costs. that is the job of public health and the job of sanitation services. and that has been chronically underfunded and undervalued for a long time, which means that people in this pandemic got sick, and then they flooded hospitals, which struggled to cope with them. now, if we can change the attitude, if we can focus on systems that will stop people from getting sick in the first place, if we can value that like we value hospital-based health care, we would have been in a lot better situation not just in this pandemic but future ones. >> and when you talk to the president and you bring up missteps from the government early on, one thing that he continually points to is the china travel ban in saying look what i did. i went against some of my advisers and put a ban on china

and travel. but you lay out why that wasn't a panacea. writing, quote, travel bans are woefully inefficient at restricting either travel or viruses. can you expand on that? >> i grant that travel bans seem like a very intuitive measure. obviously, people who are traveling around the world carry and spread the virus. the problem is that travel bans are actually a really bad way of restricting either viruses or indeed travel because people find ways of circumventing them. if you block one country, people will go to another one. if you launch a travel ban, a lot of people will flood to your country in anticipation in order to avoid that ban. trump's travel ban against china was incredibly porous and let tens of thousands of people in. so, it seems like a good idea. but in practice it just doesn't work. and it leads to a false sense of

security where someone like trump can say i've solved the problem without doing any of the things that they actually need to do like instill testing, like getting hospitals ready. >> before i let you go, obviously this is a very critical look. but what have been the bright spots in your view? the administration talks about, look, we have all the ventilators we need, we have seen americans coming together in many ways. what are some of those bright spots? >> i think one of the bright spots is that despite america's stereo typical cueing to individualism, so many americans did take collective action for each other's good. they stayed at home. they're wearing masks, a lot of them. and i think that it shows that the american public has been willing to take actions necessary to save themselves and each other. and that is what we need. now, if only they could do that with the support of the federal government, not an opposition to

it. >> all right, ed yong, thank you so much for coming on. >> thank you for having me. and up next, they said they treated coronavirus like it was a joke, but now one couple's message has changed. >> keep your distance. and wear a fricken mask. behind every 2020 census taker's mask is a friendly neighbor. they're teachers, retirees, vets, people committed to doing right by getting the count right. if you haven't responded yet, they'll be stopping by to ask some simple questions that will inform

how billions in federal funds are spent on local services every year for the next decade. so when they come knocking, say hi from a safe distance and do your part to support your community. time is running out. shape your future. start here at 2020census.gov. you know when your dog is itching for a treat. itching for an outing or itching for some cuddle time. but you may not know when he's itching for help licking for help or rubbing for help. if your dog does these frequently. they may be signs of an allergic skin condition that needs treatment. don't wait. talk to your veterinarian and learn more at itchingforhelp.com. even if you're on a statin? are you still at risk for a heart attack or stroke? statins may lower some risks, but may not be enough. that's why science delivered vascepa. for people who have persistent cardiovascular risk factors

and take a statin only vascepa is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. don't take vascepa if you're allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor about any medicines you take, and if you are allergic to fish or shellfish. stop taking vascepa and seek medical help if you have symptoms of an allergic reaction. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had heart rhythm problems. tell your doctor if you have symptoms such as irregular beat, lightheadedness, dizziness, shortness of breath, chest discomfort or fainting. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. proven by science, fda approved. vascepa can reduce your risk and add cardio protection. call your doctor about vascepa today.

i think we're doing a great job. i think we're doing great on vaccines. we're doing great on therapeutics. you'll be seeing that very soon. >> there you heard president trump touting progress on potential covid-19 treatments and a vaccine. well, every public health official is eager to have a safe and effective vaccine. but some doctors and scientists

are publicly expressing concern that president trump could try to roll out a less safe vaccine by october for political gain. joining me now is dr. carlos del rio, a professor at emory university school of medicine. thank you so much for coming on, dr. del rio. when we hear the president speak, he seems very focused on treatments and a pending vaccine. do you think when you listen to him he is way moved on from the possibility of containing or controlling this virus with effective mitigation? >> well, first of all, we need to continue containing and controlling this virus because the reality is it's going to be several months before we have a vaccine. even if everything goes perfectly well before we can vaccinate everybody that needs to be vaccinated. so the reality is we have a vaccine right now, and it's called wear a face mask, watch your distance, wash your hands. if people did that, we can actually slow transmission of

this virus and buy ourselves some time so when we have a vaccine there won't be as many infected individuals, and more importantly, there won't be as many dead individuals. currently about a thousand americans are dying every day from this virus. and if everything goes well between now and the end of the year, you're talking about another 150,000 people dying from this disease. i think that is simply something we should not accept and we should quite frankly try to stop. >> so you're saying, look, wear a mask, social distance, that is a vaccine we can be doing in realtime. do you think that this is a realistic concern that president trump could rush a vaccine to market in an october surprise before the election, despite the safety assurances that we've heard from dr. fauci and others? >> well, a lot of things have not worked well in response to this pandemic. one thing has worked incredibly well. that is the u.s. and the international research infrastructure. we have done as a research community an incredible job getting a virus, isolating a

virus and getting from discovering a virus to getting a vaccine, the first shot to an individual in less than 65 days. we are six months into this pandemic and we're already doing not one but five studies trying to find an effective vaccine. dr. fauci says we need a lot of goa goals. we may have three, four, or five vaccines that work. we may have none. but it's very unlikely that none of them gives us some protection. now the research community is focused. and as long as they do the research the way i know they're going to do, and i am one of the investigators, political pressure is not going to be an issue. it's going to be really doing the study, collecting the data, and having independent data safety monitoring boards look at the data. now, if an independent monitoring board says this vaccine looks great, i will be very happy.

>> that would be great, yeah. >> i want a vaccine. >> yeah. i think everyone wants a vaccine. well, i shouldn't say everyone. but most people want a vaccine because i know there are some people who are skeptical of the vaccine and what that may be, which is why the data behind it and the safety information behind it is so important to reassure people about that. and let's just look at the reality here. so say a vaccine, there's one vaccine that's approved that makes it through all the trials and everything, but a vaccine that might work for a child may not work for a senior citizen. so it's not necessarily a one-size-fits-all. so practically, how would that work? >> well, the clinical trials are enrolling people 18 and older. so, yes, we're not going to have a lot of data in children to begin with. but those data will come later. i think, you know, the most important thing is that developing a vaccine against a respiratory virus like this one is not going to be a perfect vaccine. it's not going to be a vaccine

that produces 100% protection. i'm almost positive of that. you're going to have a vaccine that protects 40, 50%, maybe 60% just like the flu vaccine does. that would be good. that would be good enough. but it's going to be very challenging because then you're not going to know who is protected, who's not. so the reality is even with a vaccine, mitigation strategies are necessary. we are going to have to continue social distancing. we are going to have to continue doing all sorts of things in order to decrease the risk of infection. eventually the virus may indeed stop transmitting but it's going to take some time to do that. a vaccine is not the answer. therapeutics and treatment are also important. >> and that's good. we want treatment to improve. but let me just ask you this as you read about the coronavirus mutating. how effective would a vaccine be now help in the long term if the virus mutates? >> you know, all viruses tend to mutate. rna viruses tend to mutate more.

some mutations are actually beneficial to the virus. some mutations are actually not beneficial to the virus. a virus can be made not very infectious. so far the mutations are not infecting the spike protein. the spike protein is the key the virus has to enter the cells. and that's where most of the vaccines are directed against. while the door may be remodeling and the house may have new paint, the door is still the same, the key is the same. and as long as the key is changed, because that's what makes the virus be able to infect human cells. and the virus knows that in order to mutate that, it may lose its ability to attach to the cell. as long as that's the case, we're going to be fine. the vaccines are going to work. so i will tell people not to worry that much about mutations at this point in time. >> well, that is reassuring to hear then on that note. doctor, thank you so much. >> delighted to be with you. so she dismissed the warnings, mingled with friends, didn't wear a mask, and ended up wearing oxygen instead.

one woman from arizona who thought covid-19 would never touch her family is now changing her tune. now she's urging others to take this virus seriously and wear a mask even in a state where the debate is still highly polarizing. >> we were totally lackadaisical about it. >> debbie and michael patterson didn't think the coronavirus would ever affect them. >> it was sort of almost like a joke in our group of friends. >> did you wear masks? >> nope. >> did you hang out with your friends as normal? >> uh-huh. >> so all the things you're told you should back off of. >> we did. and we still -- >> we paid the price for it. >> from lake havasu city, the pattersons didn't give the virus much thought, even once developing symptoms in late june. >> we just kind of carried on, went to the pool, did stuff, you know, over the rest of the

weekend, and then monday morning is when we both woke up and we just felt like a train had gone over both of us. >> michael got sick. debbie had to be hospitalized, put on oxygen, but did not need a ventilator. >> over a month later, how are you now? >> well, obviously, we're still short of breath, coughing. just the fatigue and dizziness, headaches almost daily. it's almost like somebody hit you in the head. >> reporter: they once laughed about the virus. now they say it's no joke. what is your message to people now? >> be more careful. >> keep your distance and wear a frickin mask. >> reporter: in this ultra conservative corner of the state, masks still highly controversial. >> we make any member or any customer that's walking through our doors remove their face mask. that's our pride. that's also the understanding -- >> so you make people remove the mask when they come in? >> absolutely. you do not shop my store with a

mask on, period. >> reporter: for this gun shop owner, the coronavirus itself doesn't add up. >> reporter: but 150,000 people are dead, over. >> i definitely don't agree with that number that you just threw out there. >> reporter: what do you not agree with? >> there are so many cases of fraudulent claims as far as how they're reporting numbers. >> reporter: public health officials believe the number of dead from covid-19 is probably higher than the official count, not lower. when the president comes out and says wear a mask, do you think he's just playing politics? >> unfortunately i do at that point think that he's playing politics because originally he did come out calling this entire thing a hoax. >> reporter: for the pattersons, the coronavirus is no hoax, and speaking out not a political act. it's a friendly warning. >> it's ridiculous not to take this seriously. i mean, i could have died just like the next person. anybody can. it could've been either one of us or both of us.

>> so, if you think that you can't get this because you live in a small town, look at the pattersons. they are an example to the otherwise. they should also be thanked for speaking out. it's not easy being from lake hal havasu city. she's a trump supporter, probably will support him again in 2020. very, very difficult for them to speak out but they are because they had it and they now get it and they say everyone should learn from their experience. pamela? >> absolutely. really important story. miguel, thank you so much for that. and up next, an emotional plea from the federal judge whose son was killed when a gunman knocked on their front door and opened fire. >> we are living every parent's worst nightmare, making preparations to bury our only child, daniel.

. fish roe. risotto. buffalo. gelato. curry. cacciatori. chimichurri. fried turkey. blueberry. mcflurry. cheese cake. grilled steak.

clam bake. milkshake. we are america's kitchen. doordash. every flavor welcome.

.

well, for the first time, we are hearing from that federal judge whose family was attacked last month. judge esther salas visibly emotional and between deep breaths and long pauses says she is living every parent's worst nightmare. she's preparing to bury her 20-year-old son who was shot and killed by a gunman at their home with her husband still in the hospital after being seriously injured. here's cnn's alexander field

with judge salas' emotional plea. two weeks ago, my life as i knew it changed in an instant. my family will never be the same. a mad man who i believe was targeting me because of my position as a federal judge came to my house. >> reporter: federal judge esther salas' only child daniel anderl spent his last weekend with his family at home in new jersey celebrating his 20th birthday. >> that weekend was a glorious one. it was filled with love and laughter and smiles. daniel and i went downstairs to the basement and we were chatting as we always do. and daniel said, mom, let's keep talking. i love talking to you, mom. and it was at that exact moment that the doorbell rang, and

daniel looked at me and said who is that? and before i could say a word, he sprinted upstairs. within seconds i heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming, no! >> reporter: daniel was shot in the chest block his father mark who was shot three times and survived. >> we are living every parent's worst nightmare, making preparations to bury our only child, daniel. and i am here asking everyone to help me ensure that no one ever has to experience this kind of pain. we may not be able to stop something like this from happening again. but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us

down. >> reporter: the suspected shooter died by suicide. an attorney and men's rights activist who had argued a case before judge salas and then in hate-filled writings on the internet attacked her in racist and sexist terms. >> as federal judges, we understand that our decisions will be scrutinized. and some may disagree strongly with our rulings. but what we cannot accept is when we are forced to live in fear for our lives because personal information like our home addresses can easily be obtained by anyone seeking to do us or our families harm. unfortunately for my family, the threat was real. and the free flow of information from the internet allowed this

sick and depraved human being to find all our personal information and target us. at the moment, there is nothing we can do to stop it. and that is unacceptable. >> reporter: the salas says the killer kept a dossier on her family. he had a target list that included the names of several other judges and a photo of new york's top state court judge. after the new jersey shooting she was given state police protection. a mother now in the deepest kind of pain is calling for more. >> my son's death cannot be in vain, which is why i am begging those empowered to do something to help my brothers and sisters on the bench. >> a truly powerful appeal from daniel's mother. federal judges do receive some protection from u.s. marshals, but for years there have been calls to do more. you heard the judge there saying

it is time now to have a national conversation about not just how to better protect judges but their loved ones, their families too. pamela? >> what a powerful, powerful video that was. thank you so much, alexandra. i want to turn now to our national lead. there's a tropical storm that's expected to strengthen to a hurricane today. and more than a hundred million people from south carolina to new york are at risk for major flooding and severe winds. cnn meteorologist tom seder is tracking this storm. >> it looks like isaias should make landfall at hurricane status right around the midnight hour, and that would be east of charleston. but take a look at this. watches and warnings from florida to canada. we haven't seen this since 1960 when hurricane donna moved into the area. i think isaias is going to shock a lot of people tonight and through the day tomorrow into wednesday. we've got the hurricane watch for areas of south carolina into

north carolina, also a tornado watch now posted just moments ago for the same area till about 2:30 in the morning. but it's increased the storm surge from 2 to 4 to 3 po 5. that's just one element. as it moves closer to charleston, roads are closed, they are inundated with rain. full moon tonight, high tide. battering the coast lines of south and north carolina. here is the key. we've got ourselves two frontal systems that are moving toward the region. first one from new york down to the south. see all the rain in advance of that system? but it's the second one from detroit back in areas of the midwest that's going to race to the east. it's going to meet up with isaias and intensify this storm where it's going to unleash torrents of rainfall, areas of the carolinas already inundated with heavy rainfall. then you toss in the strong winds. get this. philadelphia tomorrow afternoon 60, 60-mile-per-hour winds. new york city, 65 to 70.

we haven't seen winds like this in new york city, pamela, since super storm sandy almost eight years ago. comes in tomorrow between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. it's going to be a long couple days. >> that is frightening. and here we are in the middle of a pandemic and now we have this. thanks so much, tom. i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. follow me on twitter or tweet the show @theleadcnn. our coverage on cnn continues right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. we're standing by to see if president trump takes questions in a coronavirus task force briefing, as the u.s.'s death toll climbs past 155,000 people with almost 4.7 million cases now confirmed here in the united states with the rate of new deaths trending up in 30 states. and